I am not one of those people who see work as a burden. Sure, it is called work for a reason. But, all the same, I have been lucky enough to do great jobs with great people around me - and the job I have today is the same. On the other hand some weeks are worse than others. So, at the end of a tough week a few weeks ago I arrived at my apartment (I was still living in a hotel then) hoping to sit down and watch some TV and forget about my many challenges.
As I came through the door I saw that a parcel had been left for me. A book from Amazon no less. As a compulsive reader, a book is always good news to me and so I tore the packaging off to see that my wife had sent me. My gift was, “Breaking the Fat Loss Code” …….
So, I am on a diet, which I hate. On the other hand it does give me the motivation to get on my bicycle and get a bit more exercise and an opportunity to talk about cycling in the Netherlands. Without living here you can’t quite understand how much the bicycle is part of daily life. Dutch people literally grow up on bicycles. In the mornings I can watch the nursery across the street fill up with small children delivered by bicycle. Babies arrive in a contraption that can best be described as a bicycle with a covered wheel barrow on the front. Older children arrive on a small seat in front of the handlebars. Once the kids reach school age they cycle themselves or perhaps be guided there by a mother who might gently push them along as they make their way to school.
They are all safe to do this because they travel along the “fietspad” (cycle path) to their destination. All in all the Netherlands has 20,000 km or cycle paths which are well used and well maintained. In the house where I live outside my front door is a sidewalk, a cycle path, then the road. The cycle paths allow kids to bike to school - something like 95% of Dutch children take their bicycle to school - and many people bike to work. In fact, a very typical Dutch commute is to take bicycle number one from home to train station, train to other station, then bicycle number two to work. As you can imagine this makes for a lot of bicycles parked at train stations. Leiden, where I live, has at the train station multi level bicycle parking with space for hundreds of bicycles.
The cycle paths also connect cities and villages and serve as a good and safe way to get on your bike and get some exercise. A good training ride for me is about 50km which I can do without ever being off a cycle path and on a road. The ride takes me out of Leiden and north east towards Amsterdam. Often I am riding alongside the other, uniquely Dutch, mode of transport - the canal. Along my route there is a moment of when all these modes of transport come perfectly into focus. You know you are in the Netherlands when the cycle path next to the canal is going over the freeway. The Netherlands has to be the only country in the world where you can drive in your car and see a boat (and a pretty sizable boat at that) on the overpass above you.
Today, after close to two weeks of great spring weather it is raining steadily. I will put on my rain jacket and try to get some miles in. It is a requirement if I want to break the fat loss code.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:33 am
Doug, as representatives of your Texas Church we applaud you. Who knows you could be the next Neil Armstrong. GO BROTHER GO…
April 26th, 2009 at 5:41 am
Ok, I lied it’s Marie. Steve is still sleeping. I meant LANCE ARMSTRONG. Think I’ll go work on my bible study 1 John. Have a blessed day.
April 26th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Well, right now I would settle for Stretch Armstrong.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
It’s really Steve this time.
Doug, that’s an interesting description of a place that is far different than the US in at least some aspects.
As for weight loss, the cynic in me wants to scoff at a “code” to crack. On one level, it’s very simple: calories in versus calories expended. Expend more than you take in and you will lose weight, by the laws of thermodynamics. A lot of complicated diet schemes and fads really boil down to tricking you into doing that. Personally I prefer to log my intake at fitday.com. I know about what my maintenance level is, and adjust my intake accordingly.
Looking at the blurb on the book at Amazon it looks a bit hyped, but that’s marketing talk for you. I don’t know about the particular approach to cyclical dieting in the book, but there is a benefit to occasional carb ups. Metabolic slowdown can be overstated but can approach around 20% as I recall, but probably only after at least several weeks of significant calorie restriction. Diet breaks or carb ups can help with that issue.
Cycling 50 km is a good amount of exercise but you still have to be aware that it’s hard for someone with a desk job to exercise enough to lose weight without still restricting intake. Lance Armstrong may be able to lose on 7000 calories a day; you and I can’t.
Really for most people the “code” is more behavioural than anything. So the diet you can stick to is likely to be the best. If it helps you feel better about it, if weight loss is your only goal then you have it easy. Those of us who want to change body composition (exchange fat for muscle, not just lose fat) have it much harder. It’s very hard for someone already fairly strong and not all that fat to add muscle and lose fat at the same time. Generally one has to add some muscle and fat then lose fat while trying not to lose muscle, which is a much harder proposition than just losing fat alone.
Anyway, that’s my 23-1/2 cents on the subject.
Really the “code”
April 29th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I somehow left an extra sentence fragment at the end of my post. I was done after the comment about my 23-1/2 cents.
I need a “preview” option when I type something that long.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:15 am
I think you can kind a see why I love Steve sooo much (and yet can also be somewhat jealous of him at the same time).
May 1st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I agree on the intake vs. output issue. That’s just a fact. What I find I need is a regular schedule to allow me to plan my exercise and meals etc. What I am hoping for now is a bit more regular schedule - and I will start to log my intake at fitday because I dont have an easy time with diets mostly because it is hard for me to organise all of that stuff.